Love You, Always
by Historyexplorer12
Summary: Alexander knows he has a half-brother. However, his brother has been locked away, deep within the palace. No one ever talks about him. But Alexander goes to see him frequently. And saves him. Disclaimer: Phai, Xander & Arrihidaeus are not mine! Warnings: child abuse, mental illness, Congenital syphillis
1. The Rescue

Everyone in court and out of court knew that Arrhidaeus of Macedon, the son of Philip, King of Macedon, was ill. Not fit to rule. That was why the people, both of high standing and the common people, rarely saw him.

It was a rumor that he had taken to his bed and died. However, there was one person who would never believe the rumors, for he knew the unspoken truth that hung in the palace air like an angry, gray cloud.

His name was Alexander, and he too was a son of Philip. By that relation, he was also Arrhidaeus' younger half-brother.

Alexander knew that his father, ashamed of his older son, had locked him away in the deepest part of the palace, the dungeons.

* * *

As he got closer to the stairs that led down to where his brother was kept, Alexander could hear Arrhidaeus' moans, squeals, and screams. He made his way down the stone stairs quickly, taking the keys that hung on the wall near the cell and unlocking the door. Recognizing his brother, Arrhidaeus threw himself into Alexander's arms, moaning questioningly.

"There, there, Arri. I'm here. Your brother is here," as he soothed him, Alexander petted the older boy's dark hair, fighting the urge to gag when his hand came away covered in black slime.

He then noticed that the floor was wet and the cell smelled strongly of urine and feces. He sighed sadly, knowing there was very little he could do to get his brother away from his current situation.

But Alexander quickly changed his mind when Arrhidaeus began to sob, staring up at him. He saw Arrihidaeus grab his behind and groin, nearly howling in pain. Alexander shushed him quietly, dragging his thumb over his brother's pale cheeks to wipe away the tears. With careful but deft fingers, and only a little bit of embarrassment, Alexander lifted the skirt of his brother's filthy, in-tatters chiton to see what was the matter.

He found out soon enough. The skin on his brother's backside was flaking and cracked, bleeding from not being clean. His brother had open sores on his groin. Alexander did not understand what those little bumps were, only that they caused his sibling great pain.

Alexander stood as a plan began to form in his head. Assuring his brother that he would be right back, he ran up the dungeon steps, screaming for Hephaestion, his best friend.

Finally, he reached his friend's chambers and, panting, explained what his plan was. Hephaestion did not question him, only did as asked and packed his needed belongings and Arrihidaeus' belongings that were in a locked room not far from Hephaestion's and Alexander's. Satisfied that his plan was well on it's way to being complete, Alexander rushed out to the stables to call for both his and Hephaestion's horses.

It was slightly more difficult to sneak Arrihidaeus outside, but they managed by calling the guards upstairs to help the king. As soon as they reopened Arrhidaeus' cell, he began to moan loudly. Alexander soothed him with a lullaby and then scooped his very thin body up into his arms, and once Hephaestion said the coast was clear, was upstairs and soon enough, outside.

Alexander smiled down at his newly clean brother that slept against his chest as they rode calmly away. He was free. His brother was finally free.


	2. The Bad Day

Alexander and Hephaestion had quickly found a secluded place to live far away from the palace. Within two days they had built a crude hut to live in. The hut had four rooms: three bedrooms and a shared living space. The hut itself was situated near a river, where they could bathe, wash clothes and fetch clean water for cooking.

As of right now, several weeks later, everything in and around the hut was quiet. Hephaestion was cooking supper over an open fire and Alexander was patiently waiting to eat. When the food was almost ready, Hephaestion turned to his companion.

"Alexander, will you please fetch Arri? Supper's almost ready."

Silently, Alexander put his hands on his knees and stood. He went around the house looking from his brother. After the fourth round of checking for his brother, even Hephaestion was getting worried.

"Xander?"

As Hephaestion watched, he saw Alexander's body fill with a level of panic he had never seen before. Alexander's shoulders tensed, and his feet cocked as if to run. But his face was the most telling of all. He had gone extremely pale, and his pupils had blown themselves wide. Then came the scream.

"_**ARRI! WHERE ARE YOU, ******__AGAPIMÉNOS_**_! ANSWER ME,_**_ **PLEASE!**_"

"Alexander! You will never find him that way! You take the house, I will look outside!" Hephaestion took charge. Alexander only gave an almost inperceptible nod before rushing off and tearing his own room apart.

Finally, after searching both his and Hephaestion's rooms, and having his panic rise with every moment, he came to Arrihidaeus' room again.

This time when he opened the door, he was silent, and stepped lightly.

"Arri? Are you in here, Agapiménos? It's Alexander."

At that, he heard a whimper. Lighting a candle, he followed the sound around the huge bed, only to find his brother curled in a dark corner, watching him with wide teal eyes.

Alexander immediately went quiet and got down on his hands and knees, listening to Arrihidaeus' unintelligible whispers and very quiet sobs to himself for a moment.

"Arri..." finally, he spoke, his voice low so as not to scare his brother, "It's Alexander... Whatever is the matter? Hm? Why are you hiding? Come out from there, Sweetheart. I promise not to hurt you, " Arrhidaeus shook his head rapidly, trying to scoot even further into his corner. The small movement wafted a very strong smell of urine and feces toward Alexander, and he understood, "Did you soil yourself, Arri? It's all right, you're not in any trouble. Is that what made you hide? Did you think I would be angry? We understand. Hephaestion and I understand. You don't have to hide. Come, let us clean you up and get you some food, come on," as Alexander stretched out his hands toward his cowering brother.

Just then, Hephaestion came running, "Xander, I can't find-" but Alexander put a finger to his own lips in a signal to be quiet. _  
_

"Where is the ointment you prepared for him?" Alexander mouthed.

Without another word, Hephaestion turned around in the doorway and went to go fetch the ointment they had prepared weeks prior for Arrihidaeus' wounds. When he came back, they both worked to coax him out of the corner and onto his bed, where Alexander laid him down, gave him a quick wash, put the ointment on him, and put a cloth on his bottom for the night. By the end of it, Arrihidaeus was mewling and rubbing his eyes quite often. Then came the telltale yawn.

"All right, let us get some food into that belly of yours and then you can sleep," hefting his older brother onto his hip and out to the hut's living area, Alexander set him down before the fire and then sat beside him.

"Would you like some wild pork, Arri?" Alexander watched his brother stare at the food before nodding, decidng he was hungry enough to want to eat, "There you go, Sweetheart. Careful, it's very-" but Arrihidaeus had already taken a bite, and so had burned his mouth. The unexpected pain caused him to rear back, grunting in anger and surprise, dropping the wooden plate and food all over the floor.

Arrihidaeus screeched in shock, throwing his hands up and covering his ears. Alexander stood up and cautiously walked over to his brother, stopping an arm's length away from him.

"Arri? It's all done. All done. See, Hephaestion is cleaning it up now. We aren't mad. Shh, you're safe. Relax. Just relax," Arrihidaeus' flustered pants had become more spaced out now, but his hands were still in his hair, tugging violently at the strands, "Let's get you into bed. It's been a tough day on all of us."

Alexander carefully carried Arrihidaeus to his room, setting him down gently on the bed with the wood frame that Alexander himself had made. He checked his cloth one last time and found it dry, before turning his back on his brother in order to leave the room.

Arrihidaeus grunted and then Alexander suddenly felt a tug on his hand, and so turned to face his elder brother once more. Arrihidaeus' eyes were wide and sad, and Alexander knew exactly what they were trying to say without words. His eyes were wet with unshed tears, large in his long face.

"All right, all right, hush now," Alexander gave in, climbing into the small bed beside his brother.

Arrihidaeus gave a happy mew in response and nuzzled up close to Alexander, literally purring in contentment for a moment. Then he pulled away suddenly, his expression one of absolute seriousness and concentration. Knowing there was something his brother was trying very hard to tell him, Alexander settled in, prepared to wait.

After almost an hour, in which time Arrihidaeus had started to get drowsy and Alexander had taken to carding his fingers through his beloved brother's soft, light brown curls, Arrihidaeus finally spoke, his speech slurred with both his illness and the promise of sleep.

"Wuv you, Xan'er..." and then he closed his eyes.

Even though these were the first words Arrihidaeus had ever truly spoken to him, and Alexander was elated to hear them, he did not let on how he felt.

"Shh..." he soothed instead, rocking his brother in his arms as he lay beside him, "Sleep, Sweetheart... just sleep..."

Then, with a soft kiss to his brother's smooth brow, and a short hummed lullaby, Alexander was asleep as well, holding his brother close even as he dreamed.

**Translations: (Greek)**

**********Agapiménos = Sweetheart**

**********I used Google Translate, so I very sorry if the translations are wrong!**


	3. Healing

Alexander woke up late that night as he heard a deep growl and a whimper. Turning in the bed to face his brother's tense back, he rubbed his fingertips down the long back. Arrihidaeus startled, grunting as he tried to defend himself from the unexpected touch. It was then that Alexander heard the growl again, and made the connection between the sound that had woken him and his brother.

"Arri, are you hungry?" getting only a tired whimper in answer, Alexander climbed out of the bed and scooped his brother up into his arms, taking him out to the living area without another word, "We'll get you some food really soon, okay Sweetheart?"

Setting his brother down near the embers of the fire from earlier, he stoked the fire so that a tiny flame kept his brother warm. As he was preparing the leftover pork from supper, Arrihidaeus began to wail, as he was both hungry and tired, and did not know whether he wanted to sleep more or take care of his hunger first.

At the distressed sound, Alexander left the salted pork to warm up and knelt beside his sibling.

"Shh... Shh, Arri, you'll wake-" hurried footsteps came from Hephaestion's room, and soon the man had joined them, dagger in hand.

"What's wrong? What is it?" he rushed, looking down at the brothers.

"Arri's very hungry from not eating supper, but his hunger kept him awake. I think he is confused as to whether he should sleep or eat. Can you please take his pork off the fire?"

Relaxed now that he knew there was no danger, Hephaestion nodded and went to grab his friend's food. When he had a plateful, he went and knelt beside his friends, offering the food to Arrihidaeus. Arrihidaeus stared at the food for a moment before his stomach gave a painful-sounding rumble. And it was, if the grimace and whimper were enough to go by.

Upon seeing his brother's discomfort, Alexander took charge, taking the plate, knife and fork from Hephaestion.

"Arri," Alexander spoke in a soft, sweet tone, "will you please eat for me? I know you're very tired and I promise you can go back to sleep once you have something in your belly. Just a few bites, please?"

Arrihidaeus stared at his bother a long while before speaking, "Xan'er wuv Arri?"

"Yes, I do, very much."

"Arri sleep wif Xan'er?"

"Yes, we can sleep in my bed, as long as you eat something first. Come on."

Satisfied with that answer, Arrihidaeus took the fork and began to painstakingly feed himself, Alexander wiping his mouth with a clean cloth every once in awhile. After the food was gone, Alexander picked up his brother while Hephaestion cleaned the dishes. Taking him to the bedroom, Alexander changed his slightly wet cloth quickly and quietly, looking up to find his brother fast asleep, soothed by his sibling's soft touch. With a kiss to the brow, Alexander left the room to go help Hephaestion clean up and to put out the fire.

Hephaestion had his back turned and was scrubbing Arrihidaeus' plate when he spoke, doing so softly so as not to wake up the man in Alexander's bedroom, "That is the first time I have ever heard him speak."

Alexander just nodded, silent a moment before answering, "He told me he loved me last night as he was falling asleep. He is healing."

"Yes, I suppose he is."

But neither of the young men were truly happy, as they both knew that there was still a long road ahead of the three of them.


End file.
